Chrono Cross: After Time's Dream
by Jayden Kelvari
Summary: After defeating the Time Devourer, the Home and Other worlds are rejoined. But is everything really as it should be? Rated T for now, but may be subject to change depending on how the story goes.


Standard Disclaimer: Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger, and all associated properties are the sole property of Square-Enix

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><p>"Serge? Serge, wake up, please!" Leena cries out, shaking Serge roughly. She knew that she couldn't just leave him here on Opassa beach alone.<p>

"Leena?" comes a groan of a reply as Serge sits up on the beach. "What... where am I?" he asks, holding a hand to his forehead to try to block out the massive headache he was facing.

"You're at Opassa beach," she replies, giving him a vice-like hug. "Are you alright?" she asks, not giving him a chance to reply before adding, "We should probably head back home, we need to make sure you're alright."

"What do you mean?" Serge asks, giving her a gentle hug, her head resting on his shoulder. "How long was I out for?" The sun was still high in the sky, so he didn't think it could've been too long.

"You were out of it for a good half-hour," Leena replies, finally pulling herself away enough to look him in the eyes. "We should get home, though, just to be safe."

"_Half an hour?_" he thinks to himself. "_Then everything that happened... was it really just a dream?_" Looking over at his swallow – a twin-bladed weapon that resembled a boat paddle – sitting in the sand just a little bit off to the side, he was surprised to see that it was still his old Sea Swallow. Nodding as he gets to his feet with Leena's assistance, he grabs his swallow and the two start heading back for Arni.

It wasn't long after they started through Lizard Rock that Serge began to have the feeling that something was wrong, though. The Beach Bums that had been here when he came through to get her Komodo scales for her necklace were now sharing their territory with Opah Fish. As if sensing his concern, Leena laughs softly and says, "Don't worry, silly, I'll protect you from these mean old fish," patting the wooden spoon at her side. Serge knew better than to laugh at her offer – he'd made that mistake once before when he was younger, and would never forget what happened next.

"Thought that the guy was supposed to take care of the girl, not the other way around," he teases, trying to convince himself that everything was alright. This prompted a chuckle and playful punch from Leena, causing him to relax slightly as well.

"We're friends," she says, "we look after each other. Anyway, you're already looking after me by getting those tickets to the Magical Dreamers concert at the Viper Festival, right?"

_"Viper Festival?_" he thinks, only able to stammer out "I.. uh.. yeah.." He knew – or at least thought he knew – that there wasn't going to be a Viper Festival this year. Not since Porre had taken over. "I'm sure Radius will be glad to see that nothing happened to us, though."

"Radius?" Leena asks, looking over at him. "Are you sure you're alright? I mean, seriously. Why would one of the Devas care about us?"

"But... he's been..." Serge stammers, his head spinning from these recent revelations. "I.. What..?" Cradling his head in his hand, he drops to his knees, using his Swallow to keep from falling over. This, however, had the unfortunate side effect of drawing the attention of a Komodo pup.

Letting out a shrill cry, the chicken-sized lizard charges at Serge, taking advantage of his apparently-weakened state. This cry was followed shortly by a yelp of pain as it wound up meeting the business end of Leena's spoon with a solid crack. The force of the blow sent it tumbling for a few yards before it managed to scramble back to its feet and let out an angry hiss.

"You better leave him alone, you beast!" she yells at it, standing between it and Serge. "Go on, git!" She knew that Komodos could be quite stubborn when they had settled on a target. With the Komodo pup having changed targets to her, she braces herself for its next attack, only to be surprised by a beam of light striking the Komodo from off to her side, sending the lizard scampering off for safety. Looking over her shoulder, she lets out a sigh of relief as she sees Serge back on his feet.

"We'd better get back before it gets any darker," Serge says before Leena can even ask how he's feeling. He wasn't feeling the greatest right now – too much seemed out-of-place – but he didn't want to worry her. Right now he just wanted answers. He knew that Radius had been a Deva – but he was retired. And why was Porre letting the Viper Festival happen? After all, General Viper and his Dragoons had vanished years ago. Hadn't they? Nodding in agreement with Serge's comment, Leena relaxes and starts back along the path towards Arni.

The rest of the trip back to Arni was uneventful. Only the occasional ruffling of leaves gave any indication that anything was near them. And even then, it wound up just being the typical island critters – a mouse or a frog most frequently, though there had been a rabbit that had darted across their path.

"Serge?" Leena asks, stopping in front of Serge as she finally breaks the silence between them, "Are you sure you're alright? I can't help but think something's bothering you."

Shaking his head, he says, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." In all honestly, he wasn't even sure that he believed it himself. Did he remember everything wrong? Or was there more to his dream than he thought? The most haunting part, it seemed, was the blond girl with the blue eyes. It seemed that she had been important. But who was she? And why was she so important? The only thing that he could really remember, aside from roughly what she looked like, was that she had said she would find him.

Crossing her arms in front of her, Leena says, "We've been friends ever since we were little. Why wouldn't I believe you?" Waggling her spoon threateningly, she adds, "Or am I going to have to beat it out of you?" Of course, she had no intention of using the spoon against him, and she figured he knew that – it was just a ploy to get him to relax.

Laughing softly, he shakes his head again. "I think you wouldn't believe me because even I'm having a hard time believing it," Serge admits. "When I was passed out on the beach, I had a dream.. it felt so real. But now I can't hardly remember any of it."

Taking Serge's hand, Leena says, "So long as we're together in it, and happy, that's all that matters to me." Wrapping her arms around his own as she speaks, she finishes the sentence with a soft kiss on his cheek.

Not wanting to upset Leena any more, Serge smiles and gives her a soft kiss in return. "You were in it, too," he says, "and we spent a lot of time together in it, too."

Smiling, Leena replies, "That's good to know." Looking off towards the setting sun, she frowns slightly. "But we'd better get home. Can't be out too late, you know."


End file.
